Coming off the overall win at Southwick, Tom Vialle went 6-5 for sixth overall at the Spring Creek National over the weekend. We talked to him after the race to find out what he thought of his riding today, what the track was like, and what he’s looking forward to in the coming weeks. Vialle sits seventh in the 250 Class points standings currently, however he’s just 50 pints down from leader Hunter Lawrence. With the way the season has played out, it’s clear that anything can happen in the 250 Class championship, and Vialle is ready to continue bringing his best to the track.
Racer X: All right, Tom Vialle, 6-5 for sixth today, I don’t think the results showed how good you were. I feel like you were pretty good today, would you say that’s fair?
Tom Vialle: Yeah right, I feel like the speed was pretty good. I had a good day from the first practice until the second moto, I feel like the speed was good. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the same start as last weekend. I feel like the track was super fast and a lot of riders were going fast. We were all going fast and not so many lines to pass, to be honest. It was pretty tough, so the start was important, and I didn’t have the best start. Especially the second moto, I was 10th or 11th and came back to fifth. So, the starts made me work hard for today.
After the first qualifying session I think you were P2, which is I think the earliest in the day I have seen you that high on the board. Did you feel like you gelled with the track pretty quickly today then?
I had press day on Friday, so I already knew a little bit of the track and that helped me a little bit. And I just had a good feeling on the track, I had a good lap and I was P2. It was pretty nice to start the day with P2.
![Tom Vialle]()
Tom Vialle Align Media ![Tom Vialle]()
Tom Vialle Align Media
What did you think about the track, particularly the uphill triple? You were one of the few guys who was able to jump it during the motos, it looked pretty tough though.
It was nice, to be honest the track was cool, I liked it a lot, but like I said it was really fast and I feel like it was not so bumpy. Like I said, everyone was going fast and not so many ruts or bumps, like for example, the big downhill was kind of flat all day, they fixed it. So, everyone was going fast all day. I feel like it was a fast day, all of the lappers were going full gas, and everyone was going the same speed. It was a good day, the track was nice and unfortunately my starts—I couldn’t do better.
You’re saying they graded a lot of sections of the track, did you feel it made it harder to pass then? Not as many lines?
Yeah, it was tough to pass. Like I said, everyone was going pretty fast and it was tough to pass today.
Did you run the scoop tire both motos?
Scoop tires both motos, yeah.
Did you like the feel going from the sand and the whoops to more of the hard pack stuff on the hills with it?
Yeah, the rollers were tough, the second moto they were sharp, a little sketchy to be honest. But on the bottom, it's pretty sandy and then when you get to the uphill and the left side of the track it's pretty hard. But the layout of the track I really liked, it was cool. I wished they didn’t fix so much from this morning for the motos. Like a few corners were fixed and that makes it easy for everyone. But I knew I was okay, six and five, everyone was there. First moto when we did the start, I think the top six from the championship were right there. So I was going fast and like I said, everyone was full gas today.
Obviously, you got the win last weekend so I feel like people expect that you’ve got it figured out now. How are you grading yourself each weekend? When you go 6-5 are you looking at the riding more and saying, “I rode well, I am happy” or are you upset at the result at the end of the day?
For sure a little bit disappointed, I wanted to fight for a win or at least a podium, of course like a lot of guys. But the speed was good, I had a great feeling on the bike, just need to fix a few things with the start and a few things the first lap. But I think the start messed up a little bit the speed that I had today.
Lastly, I know the MXGP season is 20 to 21 rounds, you have raced ten supercrosses and you’ve gotten through seven outdoors, how are you feeling through the grind of the season?
Yeah, it's way different. It's pretty quick actually, like four races to go. We are getting almost to the end of the motocross season, it's way different than Europe. We start with supercross, so we have the mindset only for supercross, and then we switch pretty quick, like a few weeks, to motocross and only motocross and then we are going to switch back to not really supercross, but kind of a supercross track, so it's pretty tough. Especially for me, it's my first year, I have never done that. But that’s cool, I think I have learned a lot. Especially for me, the outdoor tracks, that will help me for next year.
